


Recovery

by chaletian



Category: NCIS
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-04
Updated: 2012-07-04
Packaged: 2017-11-09 04:11:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/451112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaletian/pseuds/chaletian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set after 5x01. Tony gets over Jeanne.</p>
<p>[Written at the time.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recovery

The first couple of days, no-one says anything. No-one knows quite what to say. Tony seems to like it that way. It doesn't last.

oOo

The third day, as the slow, straggling exodus of agents dwindles, and Tony and Ziva seem to be the only two left, Ziva picks up the letter-opener and saunters over to Tony's desk. She offers him his office equipment back.

"Since you are not dead, after all," she says, by way of explanation. Tony looks at it.

"How long did you all wait before the instinct for grave-robbing set in?" he asks. His voice is light. It's a joke. His eyes are bitter. Ziva is offended.

"It was a joke, Tony." She slaps the letter-opener down on his desk, retreats, glares at him from over her monitor.

He leaves the letter-opener on his desk, and grabs his jacket. Ziva does not say good night.

oOo

"So, you ever going to tell me about this undercover work of yours?"

Tony stares blankly at the wall in front of him and thinks that maybe he doesn't want to have this conversation now. Or, y'know, ever. Preferably.

"Boss…"

The phone rings, and both men are secretly glad.

oOo

Ziva finds Jeanne Benoit in New Mexico. Jeanne is cold and angry. She says that what Tony did was unforgivable. Ziva says that she obviously didn't love him after all. She resists the urge to kill Jeanne. She doesn't tell Tony.

oOo

Ducky catches Jimmy Palmer and Michelle Lee _in flagrante_. It's the gossip of the week in NCIS and they all get a kick out of it. Tony grins, and punches Jimmy in the arm. Ziva tells Tony he is a Neanderthal. Tony makes a cheap joke, and McGee tries not to smile. When Gibbs comes in, they all pretend to be working.

oOo

They're investigating the theft of a biological weapon from a Naval lab when McGee reveals that he's got a new girlfriend. She was the prom queen. Tony talks about Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery in _The Rock_ non-stop for about three days. He does impressions. Gibbs head-slaps him. It's the first time since The Mission, and there's a silent bubble, a moment of recognition, until they carry on as before.

oOo

Tony gets blind, stinking drunk, and ends up at Gibbs' house. (He cries, but neither of them ever mention it, so perhaps it didn't happen.)

oOo

"Jethro…"

"What part of 'no way in Hell' didn't you understand, Madam Director? You're not putting one of my people in that situation again. We clear?"

Jenny Shepard doesn't say anything, but she doesn't have to. Gibbs knows she won't dare do it again.

oOo

"This is… interesting."

"Like what you see?" Ziva's voice is low and seductive, a whisper against his ear. Tony knows if he swings his chair round, she'll end up in his lap. He's tempted. Ziva nips his ear. He swings his chair round.

oOo

Abby and McGee spend over an hour going over an algorithm they devised to analyse financial transactions. Tony and Ziva swap bored glances filled with the promise of retribution. Neither of them has the computer skills to wreak as much havoc as they would like, but if there's one thing they have in common, it's the ability to make contacts, and the random playing of _It's a small, small world_ drives Abby and McGee almost demented before they manage to fix it.

oOo

La Grenouille's body is discovered. Tony requests that he be the one to inform Jeanne. Gibbs agrees. Nobody knows what happened, but the Tony who returns from his self-imposed task is the same Tony who left, which is generally accepted as a positive sign.

oOo

McGee's girlfriend dumps him. Abby supplies hugs, Tony supplies alcohol, Ziva supplies threats of violence and revenge, and Gibbs supplies some mild praise for a good piece of investigation and a pat on the shoulder. McGee gets over it. Tony is melancholic and envious, until, with surprise, he realises he's over it too.

oOo

Ducky catches Tony and Ziva _in flagrante_. He doesn't mention it to anyone. He's not a fool.


End file.
